Tajja Isen

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Karen Isen

Tajja Isen

media release: As a voice actor, writer, and newly appointed editor in chief of Catapult magazine, Tajja Isen is no stranger to the power and function of language—how words can be loaded or empty, insightful or incendiary, manipulated or manipulative. In her daily life and in the world around her, Isen has traced a pattern that, by now, should feel familiar to many of us: that the progressive language of inclusion is often used in an attempt to rebrand institutions whose actions often show the opposite. She calls this diversionary tactic “lip service.”

In her debut essay collection, SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS: Essays on Lip Service (One Signal Publishers; Hardcover; On Sale April 19, 2022; $27.00; ISBN 9781982178420), Tajja Isen articulates the absurdity of living in a world that has grown fluent in the language of social justice but doesn’t always follow through. Through revealing statistics, wide-ranging cultural analysis, and personal narrative both funny and perceptive, Isen assesses the way this gambit plays out across nearly every aspect of our society—from literature and publishing, through acting and Hollywood, to the legal system and various areas of pop culture—and exposes the unintentional comedy that can result when good intentions misfire.

These nine daring essays explore the sometimes troubling and often awkward nature of that discord. Some of My Best Friends takes on the cartoon industry’s pivot away from colorblind casting, the pursuit of diverse representation in the literary world, the law’s refusal to see inequality, and the cozy fictions of nationalism. Isen deftly examines the quick, cosmetic fixes society makes to address systemic problems, and reveals the unexpected ways they can misfire.

In the spirit of Zadie Smith, Cathy Park Hong, and Jia Tolentino, Isen interlaces cultural criticism with her lived experience to explore the gaps between what we say and what we do, what we do and what we value, what we value and what we demand.

“[A] stellar debut collection... Some of My Best Friends shows a bracing willingness to tackle sensitive issues that others often sweep under a rug.” — [starred] Kirkus Reviews

Tajja Isen is a writer, editor, and voice actor. Her essays and criticism have appeared in dozens of outlets across the US and Canada. She is the editor-in-chief of Catapult magazine, the former digital editor of The Walrus, and has also edited for Electric Literature. She is the coeditor of the essay anthology The World As We Knew It: Dispatches from a Changing Climate. A voice actor for over two decades, Tajja can be heard on such animated shows as Atomic Betty, The Berenstain Bears, Super Why!, Go Dog Go, Jane and the Dragon, and many others. You can follow her on Twitter @TajjaIsen.